Volkswagen is reconsidering its soft-top strategy – and will reinstate the Golf cabriolet with this autumn’s sixth-generation car and turn the next Eos into a Passat cabrio, CAR Online has learned.
Buyers loved it, but VW never spent a lot of money or effort on the Golf cabriolet. The first version remained in production for 14 years without major changes, and the second-generation topless Golf (actually based on the Golf Mk3) was discontinued in 2002 and never replaced.
New VW Golf convertible: due in 2010
It was not until Martin Winterkorn took the helm in Wolfsburg that the Golf cabrio returned to the agenda. The new chairman understands the significance of this model, and he also knows that a fair bit of groundwork needs to be done to prepare the market for the launch which is planned for mid-2010.
The open-air Golf will be derived from the three-door hatch, so it’ll get a stubby rear end, relatively small boot and packaging very close to the current A3 cabrio’s.
And what about a folding tin-top? They’re all the rage!
Yes, but the backlash against CC bodystyles has already begun. Like the Audi, the VW will almost certainly with a well insulated soft top which folds without a cover. New features will include push-button operation, a self-erecting wind deflector and a pair of Merc Airscarf-style neck warmers.
Click ‘Next’ to read the mechanical spec on the new VW GolfVW Golf Mk6 – the tech lowdown
Like its predecessors, the Golf VI cabriolet must cover two model generations – the short-lived Golf Mk6 and the proper new Golf, the Mk7. They will use the VW group’s latest modular transverse matrix MQB, which should soldier on until 2018.
Priced at about €25,000 in its most basic form, the fun-in-the-sun Golf will reportedly be available with six different engines:
• 1.4 TSI, 120bhp
• 1.4 TSI, 150hp
• 2.0 TSI, 200bhp
• 1.6 TDI, 105bhp
• 2.0 TDI, 140bhp
• 2.0 TDI, 170bhp
All engines can be mated to the DSG dual-clutch transmission which has either six or seven forward ratios. Want more kit? Extra money buys keyless go, electronically controlled dampers and an intelligent xenon-based light system.
Click ‘Next’ to read about the new Passat CC plannedWhat does the new Golf cabrio mean for the Eos?
To make room for an open-top Golf, both the A3 soft-top and the Eos will have to be repositioned. So the next A3 cabrio is going to be derived from the new A3 notchback that Audi is preparing especially for the North American market. In a nutshell: the next A3 soft-top will be half a size bigger than today’s.
In turn, the Eos Mk2 will become the Passat Cabriolet. It may be realigned early to tie in with the current Eos’s facelift – in which case the retractable hard-top would be taken over unchanged. Alternatively, the Passat cab may not arrive until the next-gen, slightly longer Eos earmarked for 2013.